20 kilometres from Otavalo is the crater lake of Laguna Cuicocha (Guinea Pig Lake) at 3070 metres. The lake was formed when a volcano erupted and collapsed leaving two small resurgent peaks, shaped like a guinea pig, now rising out of the lake.
The walk around the crater is 8km and I anticipate an easy stroll as I'd don't feel much like an arduous hike. I should have known better after spending the best part of two months in the Andes - there is no such thing as Andean flat. The walk via the narrowest of paths is a gruelling undulating one, up countless steps and down steep ravines. The view at first is spectacular but after an hour I'm ready to go home which of course I can't.
It's also cold, misty and raining and I've usefully left my raincoat back in Quito. Three and a half hours later I've made it around but I'm wet and miserable.
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